Show Preview | The Orange Show - Southwest Art Magazine

Los Angeles, CA
The Erin Hanson Gallery, October 1-28

Erin Hanson, Crystal Dawn, oil, 50 x 40.

This story was featured in the October 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

California artist Erin Hanson wanted a challenge. The answer was the color orange.

Hanson has been creating a painting a week for the last 10 years and says the practice has helped evolve her unique style, which she calls Open Impressionism. Recently, she was looking for a way to push that evolution even further. This resulted in her upcoming exhibition, The Orange Show, which features paintings that are predominantly orange.

“I picked what I consider to be the most challenging color because I don’t want this to be easy,” she says of the project. “I want this to force me to confront an area and a color I’m not really comfortable with.”

Hanson says the focus on orange deviates from her comfort zone of purples and greens. To prepare, she started visiting new places and hiking in different environments, including Colorado and Utah, where she photographed the aspens at their peak fall colors. She also visited places like Canyon De Chelly National Monument, where the rocks can be nothing but orange.

: Erin Hanson, Autumn Tapestries, oil, 50 x 40.

: Erin Hanson, Cottonwood Shadow, oil, 60 x 42.

: Erin Hanson, Sunflowers in Orange, oil, 48 x 60.

: Erin Hanson, Adelaida in Orange, oil, 40 x 30.

: Erin Hanson, Tangerine Light, oil, 40 x 30.

: Erin Hanson, Radiant Orange, oil, 48 x 36.

Hanson says her painting CRYSTAL DAWN is a perfect example of the works in the show, as well as the message she hopes visitors take away. CRYSTAL DAWN depicts sparse trees against a vibrant background as the mountains of Zion National Park glow blue in the distance. Hanson says she created this image from the parking lot of the park’s visitor center. But when she visited, the sky was gray and bleak. “The idea is to get people to look at the world differently and to brighten people’s outlook and really make them see that they are on this beautiful planet,” Hanson says. “Maybe they’ll take a second look at those trees and realize that they really can be beautiful.”

Hanson says she is excited to see the paintings hanging together in her gallery, where the midnight-blue walls are sure to create a particularly special viewing experience.

The Orange Show runs through the month of October, beginning with an orange-themed opening reception on October 1 from 5 to 10 p.m. —Mackenzie McCreary

contact information
818.860.1623
www.erinhanson.com